'Till coward death behind him jumpit,

Wi' deadly feide ; Now he proclaims, wi' tout o' trumpet,

Tam Samson's dead!

When at his heart he felt the dagger, He reeld his wonted bottle-swagger, But yet he drew the mortal trigger

Wi' weel-aim'd heed ; “L-d, five !” he cry'd, an' owre did stagger;

Tam Samson's dead!

Ilk hoary hunter mourn'd a brither ; Ilk sportsman youth bemoan'd a father; Yon auld gray stane, amang the heather,

Marks out his head, Whare Burns has wrote, in rhyming blether,

Tam Samson's dead!

There low he lies, in lasting rest; Perhaps upon his mould'ring breast Some spitefu' muirfowl bigs her nest,

To hatch an' breed ; Alas! nae mair he'll them molest!

Tam Samson's dead!

When August winds the heather wave, And sportsmen wander by yon grave, Three vollies let his mem'ry crave

O'pouther an' lead, 'Till echo answer frae her cave,

Tam Samson's dead !

Heav'n rest his saul, whare'er he be !
Is the wish o'mony mae than me;
He had twa fauts, or may be three,

Yet what remead?
Ae social, honest man want we :

Tam Samson's dead !

THE EPITAPH.

Tam Samson's weel-worn clay here lies,

Ye canting zealots, spare him !
If honest worth in heaven rise,

Ye'l mend or ye win near him.

PER CONTRA.

Go, Fame, an' canter like a filly
Thro' a' the streets an' neuks o' Killie*,
Tell ev'ry social, honest billie

To cease his grievin,
For yet, unskaith'd by death's gleg gullie,

Tam Samson's livin.

The following poem will, by many readers, be well enough understood; but, for the sake of those who are unacquainted with the manners and traditions of the country where the scene is cast, notes are added, to give some account of the principal charms and spells of that night, so big with prophecy to the peasantry in the west of Scotland. The passion of prying into futurity makes a striking part of the history of human nature in its rude state, in all ages and nations; and it may be some entertainment to a philosophic mind, if any such should honour the author with a perusa), to see the remains of it, among the more unenlightened in our own.

* Killie is a phrase the country-folks sometimes. use for Kilmarnock.

D 2

HALLOWEEN*.

Yes! let the rich ileride, the proud disdain,
The simple pleasures of the lowly train ;
To me more dear, congenial to my heart,
One native charm, than all the gloss of art.

Goldsmith.

I.
Upon that night, when fairies light,

On Cassilis Downanst dance,
Or owre the lays, in splendid blaze,

On sprightly coursers prance ;
Or for Colean the rout is ta’en,

Beneath the moon's pale beams; There, up the covet, to stray an' rove Amang the rocks and streams

To sport that night.

II.
Amang the bornie, winding banks,

Where Doon rins, wimplin, clear,
Where Bruceg ance ruld the martial ranks,

An' shook the Carrick spear,

Is thought to be a night when witches, devils, and other mischief-making beings, are all abroad on their baneful, midnight errands ; particularly those aerial people, the fairies, are said, on that might, to hold a grand anniversary.

+ Certain little, romantic, rocky, green hills, in the neighbourhood of the ancient seat of the earls of Cassilis.

# A noted cavern near Colean-louse, called the Cove of Colean; which, as Casilis Dowans, is famed in country story for being a favourite haunt of fairies.

$ The famous family of that name, the ances. tors of Robert, the great deliverer of his country, were earls of Carrick.

Some merry, friendly, countra folks,

Together did convene,
To burn their nits, an' pou their stocks,
And haud their Halloween

Fu' blythe that night.

III.
The lasses feat, an' cleanly neat,

Mair braw than when they're fine ;
Their faces blythe, fu' sweetly kythe,

Hearts leal, an' warm, an' kin': The lads sae trig, wi’ wooer-babs,

Weel knotted on their garten, Some unco blate, an' some wi' gabs, Gar lasses' hearts gang startin

Whiles fast at night.

IV.
Then first and foremost, thro' the kail,

Their stocks* maun a' be sought ance;
They steek their een, an' graip an' wale,

For muckle anes an' straught anes. Poor hav'rel Will fell aff the drift,

An' wander'd throʻ the bow-kail, An' pow't, for want o' better shift, A runt was like a sow-tail,

Sae bow't that night.

* The first ceremony of Halloween is pulling each a stock, or plant of kail. They must go out, hand in hand, with eyes shut, and pull the first they meet with : its being big or little, straight or crooked, is prophetic of the size and shape of the grand object of all their spells-the husband or wife. If any yird, or earth, stick to the root, that is tocher, or fortune ; and the taste of the custoc, that is, the heart of the stem, is indicative of the natural temper and disposition. Lastly, the stems, or, to give them their ordinary appellation, the runts, are placed somewhere above the head of the door ; and the Christian names of the people, whom chance brings into the house, are, according to the priority of placing the runts, the names in question.

V.
Then, straught or crooked, yird or nane,

They roar an' cry a' throu’ther;
The vera wee things, todlin, rin

Wi' stocks out-owre their shouther ;
An' gif the custoc's sweet or sour,

Wi' joctelegs they taste them ;
Syne coziely, aloon the door,
Wi cannie care, they've plac'd them

To lie that night

VI.
The lasses staw frae 'mang them a'

To pou their stalks of corn*;
But Rab slips out, an’jinks about,

Behint the muckle thorn:
He grippet Nelly hard an' fast;

Loud skirl'd a' the lasses ;
But her tap-pickle maist was lost,
When kiutlin in the fause-houset

Wi' him that night.

VII.
The auld guidwife's weel hoordet nits

Are round an' round divided,
An' monie lads' and lasses' fates

Are there that night decided :

* They go to the barn yard and pull cach, at three several times, a stalk of oats. If the third stalk wants the top-pickle, that is, the grain at the top of the stalk, the party in question will come to the marriage-bed any thing but a maid.

+ When the corn is in a doubtful state, by being too green, or wet, the stack-builder, by means of old timber, &c. makes a large apartment in his stack, with an opening in the side, which is fairest exposed to the wind : this he calls a fause-house.

Burning the nuts is a famous charm. They name the lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire, and accordingly as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be: